1. The Fall – Kurious Oranj (from “I am Kurious Oranj” 1988) Pained and intense, man They were inquiring. They were curious orange They rode over peasants like you, they rode over peasants like you, And their horses loved them too, and their horses loved them too. They Were Kurious Orange. They Were Curious Orange.
2. The Fall - Kurious Oranj (from 'I am Kurious Oranj' 1988) Pained and intense, man They were inquiring. They were curious orange. They rode over peasants li.
3. The Fall - Kurious Oranj (from 'I am Kurious Oranj' 1988) Pained and intense, man They were inquiring. They were curious orange. They rode over peasants like you, they rode over peasants like you, And their horses loved them too, and their horses loved them too. They Were Kurious Orange. They Were Curious Orange.

The last thing most Fall fans expected the group to do in 1988 was provide music for a ballet, but in fact this is what they did. Of course, it helped that the Michael Clark company of dancers were some of the most avant-garde at the time in Britain and were inspired originally by the Fall's 'Hey! Luciani' single. The concept, very loosely, centers around William and Mary of Orange, and finds Smith arranging William Blake's 'Jerusalem' for the band, adding his own lyrics ('It was the fault of the government,' providing ironic contrast to the self-sufficiency espoused in Blake). As a cohesive Fall album it fails: The strongest tracks are those that have little to do with the ballet (and are available elsewhere). 'New Big Prinz' updates their own 'Hip Priest' into one of their heaviest tracks, full of threat and wonder. 'Cab It Up!' features all forward momentum and jingling keyboards. For the first time tracks felt like filler, and indeed they were. The CD booklet contains photographs from the performance full of giant pop-art hamburgers and cans of baked beans, suggesting I Am Kurios Oranj would have been more interesting to see than hear.

Jason Gross
(May 1998)

I Am Kurious Oranj is the eleventh studio album by English post-punk band the Fall.It was released on 10 October 1988 through record label Beggars Banquet. The album's release came at the end of a relatively successful year for the group, which had also seen the release of an 'accessible' album, The Frenz Experiment, and a handful of singles in the UK charts. Isn't original, the melody is obvious and goes round and round. It's a lively track though, and Mark E Smith is particularly lively vocally. When he shouts out 'cabbing it uptown, UPTOWN!' It's a great Fall moment, for me at least. And, there you have it. 'I Am Kurious Oranj'.

As Chuck Eddy noted, not too many scores for ballet companies toast William of Orange, let alone have it done for them by the Fall. Oddly enough, that's exactly what happened with Michael Clarke's dance troop when the band performed live with them for their tour. More strange is that this one of the the group's most consistent sets. With the Fall though, this is a mixed blessing as one of their enduring qualities is all the weird shit that hits you when you least expect it in always surprising and new ways.

This start off with'Hip Priest,' revived from Hex Enduction Hour as 'New Big Prinz,' now a stomping, shout-along where Mark yells 'check the record, check the record, check the guy's track record!' (who's he talking about here, eh?). Brix weighs in with a majestic theme song which has her mewling out the title(s)- must have been fun to see the dancers leaping and prancing around to this. Mark takes a page from William Blake and launches into 'Jerasalum,' one of the band's best rock tunes ever, starting with a stammering beat then steading into a strident, driving rhythm where Mark casts some aspertions on the government and the people who want to milk it for cash. When I saw the band do this live around '89/'90, me and my friends were inspired to dance around like an Indian tribe, attracting more attention than the band for a while! For some reason, I've literally fallen asleep twice while listening to 'Kurious Oranj,' which is a shame as it's a funny toast to the 'hero' as he makes 'Hitler laugh in pain' and 'paved the way for the atom bomb' (as if you'd expect a reverant tribute from the Fall) all to a choppy reggae beat. The first side closes with a sharp stomper and another good shout-along 'Wrong Place, Right Time' which actually has a nice cello-like passage smack in the middle.

The Fall Kurious Oranj

The Fall I Am Kurious Oranj Rar

The second side starts out with a weird kind of remix of everything we've heard before with 'Win Fall CD 2088 AD.'. After that, we hear the relatively civilized 'Van Plague' and 'Yes Oh Yes.' 'Bad News Girl' is one of my favorites here as it starts out slow and mournful then revs up at the end with what sounds like a toy piano jingling around. 'Cab It Up' ends things off by stealing the opening lick from the Stooges 'T.V. Eye' and making another solid rocker from the crew.